Automatic damper.



H. LA FEVER.

AUTOMATIC DAMPER. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 7, 1912.

1,100,381-, Patented June 16, 1914.

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@wm/wm "L l a 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY LA FEVER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

AUTOMATIC DAMPER.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, HARRY LA FEVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Betroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Dampers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in automatic dampers and particularly to means for opening the draft dampers of a stove or furnace at a predetermined time.

'Ihe object of my invention is to provide an improved device controlled by an escapement mechanism and adapted to automatically open the draft door of a furnace or stove at any desired time.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be hereinafter made clearly apparent in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown the preferred form which my invention may take.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a view in elevation showing the general arrangement of the parts of my invention, and, Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through portions of the mechanism employed by me.

Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference, similar numerals designating corresponding parts throughout the several views, 3 is a base, which may be secured in any desired position in relation to a stove or furnace. In the drawing I have shown the base secured to the ceiling of a room by means of brackets et, the base being secured over a furnace 5. The furnace 5, as shown, has the usual fuel door 6, a draft door 7, a pipe 8 leading to a chimney, and a check draft 9 in said pipe.

In fixing a furnace, such as herein shown, for the night, it is desirable to close the draft door 7 and to open the check draft 9 and in the morning it is desirable to reverse the positions of the doors to allow the fire to increase in intensity, and to accomplish this end automatically, I connect the draft door 7 and check draft 9 by a cable 10, which extends over the pulleys 11 secured to the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 7, 1912.

Patented June 16, 1914.

serial No. 713,815.

ceiling of a room. The cable 10 is of such a length that when the draft door 7 is closed the check draft 9 will be open and vice versa. The cable 10 is connected intermediate its ends to a horizontally disposed arm 12, which is secured intermediate its ends in the bracket 13, which is secured to the lower surface of the base 3. The upper portion of the cable 10 above the arm 12 is provided with a hook 1-1, whereby the same may be engaged with or disengaged from said arm, when desired. As shown in the drawing, the lever-arm 12 is provided with an eye 15 at one end in which the lower section of the cable 10 and the hook 14, secured to the upper section, are secured and the opposite end of the arm is provided with a platform 15a.

In order that the arm 12 will be operated at the desired time, I provide a weight 16, which is secured to a bar 17 vertically 1novable in guiding angular plates 18, which are secured to one end of a block 19. The bar 17 extends vertically through the base 3 and is provided with an opening 20 therein, which is adapted, when the bar and weight are raised out of engagement with the platform 15, to be engaged by a latch 21. The latch 21 is horizontally movable in a bore 22 formed in the block 19, the rear end of said bore being enlarged to receive a collar 23 formed upon said latch and a spring 24 interposed between the rear end of said collar and a plate 25 secured to the block and over the end of -the bore 19. The latch extends through an opening in the plate 25 and is connected by an adjustable link 26 to a crank arm 27 of the shaft 28. The shaft 28 is rotatably mounted in bearings 29 secured to the supporting base 30 and extending through said bearings and into engagement with the relatively movable sleeve 31. The outer end of the sleeve 31 is split, as indicated at 32, for a purpose hereinafter set forth, and its other end is engaged with said shaft 28 by means of a pin 33 extending through said sleeve and through a slot 34 formed in said shaft. The sleeve is normally held outwardly by means of a spring 35 interposed between the bearing 29 and the inner end of said sleeve.

An auxiliary supporting base 36 is pivotally secured by the pin 37 to the base 3 and normally held in alinement therewith by a removable pin 3S. Said auxiliary base is adapted to receive and support an escapement mechanism, such as an alarm clock 39, the winding key 40 for the escapement mechanism being disposed in the split end of the sleeve 3l.

In operation the escapement mechanism of the alarm clock is wound and is set for any desired time and the auXiliary platform is then returned to the position shown in the drawing and the pin 38 inserted through the base to hold the parts stationary. At the time for which the alarm mechanism is set the alarm mechanism will operate and the Winding key will rotate and will turn the sleeve 31 and the shaft connected thereto so as to withdraw the latch 21 from engagement with the bar 17. The weight at the end of the bar will immediately fall upon the platform 15a and will raise the other end upwardly, thug opening the draft door 7 and closing the check draft 9.

In practice, the occupant of the house sets the alarm so that the same will operate some little time before he desires to arise in the morning, so that when he does arise the house will have been warmed and it will only be necessary for him to add fuel to the furnace and to fix the same for the day.

The weight 16 is adapted to be raised and to be rengaged with the latch 21 by cable 41, which passes over pulleys 42 secured to the supporting brackets 4 and is provided with a handle 43 disposed at the front of the furnace, within convenient reach of the operator. During the day the pin 38 may be removed and the auxiliary platform swung upon its pivot so as to move the alarm mechanism away from the sleeve 31. It is often desirable to leave the check draft 9 closed throughout the day and, when this is desired, the hook 14 may be disengaged from the eye 15 and the draft door operated in the usual manner.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided an automatic damper of extremely cheap construction and which is reliable and eiiicient in use.

IVhile I have shown the preferred form of my invention, I desire it to be understood that certain modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new is:

1. In an automatic damper for a furnace having a draft door and draft check, a cable connecting said door and check, a support, a lever centrally pivoted to said support and having one of its ends adapted to operate said cable, a weight adapted to be released to fall upon the free end of said lever, a latch for releasing said weight, a rotatably supported shaft, a crank arm arranged thereon, adjust-able connecting means between said crank arm and latch, and means for rotating said shaft at a predetermined time.

2. In an automatic damper for a furnace having a draft door and draft check, a cable connecting said door and check, a lever adapted to operate said cable, a weight adapted to be released to fall upon said lever for operating the same, a latch for releasing said weight, a rotatably supported shaft, connecting means between said shaft and latch, a sleeve slidably guided on said shaft and having a split end, a pivotally supported escapement mechanism, a. winding key on said mechanism adapted to be swung in or out of engagement with said split key, and resilient means on said shaft for nor mally holding said sleeve in engagement with said key.

In testimony .whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRY LA FEVER.

lVitnesses T. M. Lace, C. LA FLOWER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

